<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>To Bloom Among Black Water by LadyOf_TheStorm</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29265159">To Bloom Among Black Water</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyOf_TheStorm/pseuds/LadyOf_TheStorm'>LadyOf_TheStorm</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game), 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 | Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(no one actually dies), Blood and Gore, Calamity Rinko, F/F, Ghost Queen Yukina, Goddess Ako, Goddess Lisa, Goddess Sayo, Goddess Tomoe, Heavy Spoilers For The Blackwater Arc, RPG, Sharing a Body, Temporary Character Death, Video &amp; Computer Games</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 13:33:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,977</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29265159</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyOf_TheStorm/pseuds/LadyOf_TheStorm</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bored of NFO, the girls of Roselia play a new game. Tomoe joins them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Imai Lisa/Minato Yukina, Shirokane Rinko/Udagawa Ako</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>To Bloom Among Black Water</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a hundred percent self indulgent and I regret nothing. The idea of a Roselia x TGCF lives in my mind rent-free. If there's ever a collab I'll probably die of happiness. Enjoy, and be wary of the violence tags, they're there for a reason.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lisa paced around, restless. Yukina fidgeted with the string of her eyepatch, her good eye avoiding Lisa’s like she couldn’t bear the sight of her. Sayo and her were evindently trying to look calm and collected, but Lisa knew them better.</p><p>“Blue Rose in a Birdcage-san” Sayo was glaring at the Ghost Queen, an icy look in her green eyes. Lisa immediately stopped her pacing to look at her. “You knew about this, didn’t you?”</p><p>“If I knew or not, it makes no difference. I told you two to not get involved and you didn’t listen, and it’s not like we can do anything. Whatever Rinko decides to do, it’s her choice and hers alone. We can’t change the outcome”</p><p>“You still allowed Udagawa-san to walk into her trap!” spat the music goddess, sitting up from her spot on the divan.</p><p>“Sayo!” Lisa grabbed her arm, “calm down. I know you’re worried about them, I am too, but let’s keep calm, okay?”</p><p>Sayo took a deep breath, her body relaxing.</p><p>“Okay. Sorry for lashing out at you, Blue Rose… Minato-san”</p><p>“Maybe there’s nothing we can do, but I can still use the soul-shifting spell to check on them”</p><p>“Lisa…” Yukina gave her a heated look.</p><p>“Yukina” she walked towards the Ghost Queen, her steps firm despite the fast beating of her heart. “Let me borrow some spiritual energy, just this once”.</p><p>She nodded, and with her confirmation, Lisa placed her hands on Yukina’s face and brought their lips together, feeling a surge of spiritual energy flood her entire being. She felt her soul leave her body, travelling many miles at the speed of light until she felt anchored to the ground again. The spell had been successful. Ako’s spiritual power was so low she didn’t notice Lisa’s presence, much less try to perform the spell herself. Through her eyes, Lisa could see Rinko’s back, her shoulders slouched and her hair a mess, wet and tangled with seaweed, like she’d been in a fight. The sword at her side was shaking slightly, it’s hilt held tightly in her trembling fist.</p><p>“RinRin” Ako struggled against the chains that bound her, but she was ignored. “RinRin, please…”</p><p>“Ako, shut up!” came Tomoe’s voice from beside her. She was chained as well. “This has nothing to do with you.”</p><p>“The hell it doesn’t,” Lisa had never heard the former Earth Master speak with such venom in her voice, “it had everything to do with her.”</p><p>“It was my choice. I acted alone, she didn’t know, and I never planned on telling her.”</p><p>Tomoe was trying to keep herself together, but the crack on her voice betrayed her, “I knew she’d hate me, that’s why she couldn’t know! Just leave her out of this”.</p><p>“Shut up!” Rinko bashed Tomoe’s head with the hilt of her sword, and Lisa could finally see her face. Her mouth was contorted in an aggressive snarl, and she could see a spark of madness in her usually calm, timid eyes. Tomoe’s body collided against the cold stone floor, staining it with the blood that flowed from the deep gash on her forehead.</p><p>“Onee-chan!” Ako cried out and tried to free herself again. Lisa could feel the Young Wind Master’s heart beating madly in her chest, desperate to aid her sister.</p><p>“Ako… it’s okay, I promise…”</p><p>“What?” Rinko lifted Tomoe by the hair and punched her, breaking the Water Master’s nose with a horrible crack. “What will be okay?” she punched her again, and Ako screamed. “Nothing’s okay! Nothing’s ever been okay!”</p><p>She punctuated every word with a blow. She was panting heavily, even though ghosts didn’t need to breathe, and her eyes were clouded with tears.</p><p>“RinRin…” sobbed Ako. Lisa’s visión went blurry, and she could feel the wetness on her friend’s cheeks. “RinRin, please…”</p><p>“Don’t call me that! Don’t call me that, like I’m your friend.”</p><p>“You are!” Ako’s voice had turned into a desperate shriek. “You’re my best friend, RinRin. We can fix this… we can talk–”</p><p>“It should’ve been you”</p><p>It was the first time Rinko looked at her directly in the eyes, at least since Lisa had arrived. The hate in her gaze was layered with a thin film of deep sorrow that Lisa had never seen in anyone before.</p><p>“I know.” Struggling against the chains, Ako managed to kneel and bend until her forehead tounched the filthy stone floor. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, RinRin! I’ll say it a thousand times! I’ll keep telling you until you believe me!”</p><p>“It should’ve been you. You were supposed to have a life of suffering, not me! I was supposed to ascend! You being sorry is worthless to me. How can you still call youself my friend when your sister ruined my life, my fate, and even my death? I wish your apology was enough to put my soul to rest, but it isn’t. It will never be enough.”</p><p>Rinko was sobbing too, but she either didn’t realice or just didn’t care. She sank to her knees in front of Ako, defeated.</p><p>“Nothing you say can undo your sister’s acts, Ako-chan. I can’t escape this.” Her nails scraped desperately on the floor, subconsciously looking for purcahse. “I have to make things right.”</p><p>“Don’t listen to her!” groaned Tomoe from were she was lying on the ground.</p><p>“Shut up! Shut up, SHUT UP!” Rinko screamed, the little composure she could have had left completely gone. She looked nothing like the quiet, shy Earth Master Lisa had known. She snapped her fingers, and the chains that bound the two sisters were gone. With another gesture of her hand, ten, twenty, thirty iron cages were lowered from the ceiling. Inside each of them was a person, their bodies disfigured and mutilated so badly they barely looked human anymore, overriden with disease, and filthy like everything around them. Men, women and children, wearing torn rags or nothing at all. The rotten smell they exuded was unbereable, and Lisa felt Ako’s stomach churn.</p><p>The Wind Master had rushed to help her sister up. Despite her pitiful state, Tomoe still had it in her to push her behind her body to shield her.</p><p>“Ship-Sinking Black Water…”</p><p>“Tomoe-san, I’m going to offer you a choice.”</p><p>Rinko walked towards them, clutching her sword tightly in both hands, like it was the only thing grounding her.</p><p>“You will let me kill you, or…” she paused, trying to control the trembling of her hands. Ako had started crying again. “Or you will swap Ako-chan’s fate with one of these people’s.”</p><p>“I’ll do it!” blurted Ako, not giving Tomoe time to answer.</p><p>“I’ll do it, Onee-chan, RinRin! I don’t mind if it means no one will die, hahaha–”</p><p>Her voice had turned high-pitched, nearly hysterical. Tears still flowed freely from her eyes.</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Onee-chan?”</p><p>Tomoe kneeled at Rinko’s feet with her head hanging low.</p><p>“You don’t have to pay for my mistakes, Ako.”</p><p>Rinko’s eyes softened, almost as if she was… relieved? She cares about Ako, Lisa thought. Even now, she doesn’t want to hurt her. She wished she could reach out to Rinko, convince her that it didn’t have to be this way. But it was too late. Even if she let them go, something had broke. The five of them would never be the same again.</p><p>Rinko had unsheathed her sword.</p><p>“RinRin!” Ako leaped at her, throwing her arms around her and hugging her close. Rinko froze, completely taken by surprise.</p><p>“RinRin,” she muttered into her neck. “All of this happened because of me. If I hadn’t been born so unlucky, Onee-chan wouldn’t have had to save me. Please don’t be mad at her.”</p><p>Ako released her from her embrace, and reached towards the hand that was holding the sword. The anger in Rinko’s face turned to raw pain as a sob tore through her chest.</p><p>“I can’t.”</p><p>“Kill me instead, RinRin.”</p><p>Lisa wondered how Ako managed to make a phrase like that sound so tender, almost as if she was trying to comfort her. Even Tomoe had stood up, shocked by her sister’s compassion.</p><p>“You’ve really matured, Ako.”</p><p>“Onee-chan?”</p><p>“And I’m sorry for what I’m about to do.”</p><p>She yanked her sister away from Rinko and threw her to the gruond, not even giving her a second to react before her hands cosed around her throat. Ako tried to break free, but her spiritual power was too low and her sister was stronger.</p><p>“I can’t let her kill you,” she squeezed harder, so hard Ako’s vision started to blur. Lisa wanted to do something, anything, but she was still locked in Ako’s body as a mere spectator. “We can die together! We’ll die together as sisters! Don’t be afraid, Ako—“</p><p>Ako couldn’t breathe. Lisa could feel her lungs burning, her mouth opening and closing for air, and her hold on Tomoe’s hands weakening. She was dying, and Lisa couldn’t do anything but watch.</p><p>She was on the brink of losing consciousness when an dark figure appeared behind Tomoe, and suddenly air entered her lungs again. She coughed, over and over again, as bile threatened to rise from her stomach.</p><p>“Onee-chan,” she said with a hoarse, strangled voice.</p><p>“It’s over, Ako-chan.”</p><p>Rinko stood a few feet away. Her sword was dripping in blood, and more was pooling on the floor below her, where Tomoe’s lifeless body lay face down.</p><p>Ako rushed towards her, ignoring the numbness of her limbs from her recent suffocation. She collapsed beside her sister’s corpse, drenching herself in blood as she turned her over.</p><p>“ONEE-CHAN! ONEE-CHAN WAKE UP—“ she screamed, even though Tomoe’s eyes were open and glassy, unseeing.</p><p>“She’s dead,” Rinko said, coldly. Ako held her sister tight, crying uncontrollably.</p><p>“I… I want to die.”</p><p>Rinko closed her eyes and started walking away.</p><p>“I’m sorry.”</p><p>Before she was forcefully pulled from Ako’s body, Lisa could swear she saw a tear rolling down Rinko’s face.</p><p>OMAKE</p><p>*In the Roselia discord chat*</p><p>Lisa: wait, why can’t I see anything?</p><p>Lisa: shoot, I’m out of spiritual power</p><p>Lisa: Yukina, kiss me again!</p><p>Yukina: why</p><p>Yukina: why cant i do th soul shfting spell</p><p>Yukina: or sayo</p><p>Sayo: the wiki says only the Crown Prince/Princess can cast it, but only if the Ghost King/Queen lends them spiritual power, because at this point in the story they still have the cursed shackles. I still don’t know why they decided it was going to be via kissing, though.</p><p>Lisa: wow sayo, you really did your homework 😳</p><p>Ako: don’t bother, we got the bad end 😭</p><p>Lisa: yeah, I sort of assumed that when tomoe’s character died…</p><p>Rinko: my guess is tha Tomoe-san triggered the bad end when she chose to strangle Wind Master instead of confronting Black Water. Then depending on what choices Ako-chan made, she’d either convince Black Water to desist or end up doing a murder-suicide.</p><p>Ako: ONEE-CHAN WHY DID YOU TRY TO KILL MEEE🥺🥺🥺🥺</p><p>Tomoe: IM SORRY IM REALLY BAD AT THESE GAMES OK THAT STORY WAS SUPER DEPRESSING</p><p>Rinko: for what I gather, this arc is supposed to be about making desicions under pressure, that’s why we had a countdown to choose our dialogue and action options. Now that we’ve done it for the first time, we can pinpoint what we did wrong and not make the same mistakes again.</p><p>Ako: I don’t think I want to play as Wind Master again… it’s too sad 😰</p><p>Lisa: yeah, I actually teared up when Black Water said sorry at the end.</p><p>Rinko: I think the “dream on” line was more in character, but i don’t like picking mean dialogue options.</p><p>Yukina: rinko,,, you killed her sister</p><p>Yukina: being mean cant make it any worse</p><p>Lisa: LOL</p><p>Sayo: well, she’s got a point.</p><p>Lisa: I wonder what would happen if we pick all the bad options…</p><p>Yukina: we shld try</p><p>Ako: YES</p><p>Sayo: NO</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading^^</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>